The WSU men’s golf team got off to a hot start in their season opening tournament, Monday, at the Itani Quality Homes Collegiate tournament at Palouse Ridge Golf Club.

The Cougars, who shot a (-6, 562) on the day have opened up a solid lead on second place Utah, after the first two rounds of play. The Cougars currently have a 15 stroke lead over the Utes.

WSU had a strong first and second round as a team shooting, under-par in each round of the tournament thus far. The strong score put up in round one was spearheaded by sophomore AJ Armstrong who shot 3-under-par (68) in round one. His performance was supplemented by freshman Nicklaus Chiam who shot even-par in the first round. WSU finished the first round with a score of (283).

In the second round, WSU shot a combined 4-under-par with junior Derek Bayley leading the team at 5-under-par, making up for the 4-over-par he shot in round one. Chiam followed up his impressive first round score by shooting 2-under-par in the second round, and is tied for second place individually with Bayley and junior Brian Mogg who is playing as an individual in the tournament.

The overall leader for the tournament is currently held by WSU senior Nick Mandell, who is playing as an individual in the tournament. Mandell shot 5-under-par through rounds one and two.

Mandell birdied five holes in round one, highlighting his performance with an eagle on No.18 which helped him reach 4-under-par for the round. In round two, Mandell hit a rough spot between holes one and six, accruing three bogeys and nothing better than an even par on any of those six holes. He combated that with three straight birdies on holes seven, eight and nine. He finished the day with a three stroke lead over teammate Mogg at five under par.

With a 15 stroke lead and many of their golfers playing well, the Cougars will try to close out the win when play tees off again at 8 a.m. today at the Palouse Ridge Golf Club. Live scoring updates can be found at birdiefire.com for team and individual scoring coverage.